Greatest traitor in your nations (or anyone else’s) history?

[Ramius75]

In chinese history, there are many traitors so called "Han Jian".

But in every traitors there is a story and sometime different situations.

Here are some of the greatest IMHO.

Wu San Gui: The Ming general who is incharge of a large army and protecting the ming's border. He pledge loyal to the Qing invader and then in turn using the very own ming army crashed the rest of the Ming defender and was conferred a prince of Yunnan by the Newly Qing emperor. Only to rebel again when Kangxi is the emperor. He doesnt care abot loyalty or to the people, all he is interested in is power and fortune.

Next on my list:

Chiang Kaishiak: yes, the generalissimo. Taking over the power from Sun yatsen. this man effectively seize the power and turn the newly republic into a dictatorship. Taking over all the military might and while the rest of china suffer, this man pamper his new wife with luxuries. Since this man divorced his ex wife for a new younger and beautiful wife. He has the making of a traitor.

When the Japanese attacked the northeast province of china, he did little to resist them. Thinking the japanese will only take a small part of marchuria and still trying to conserve his military might so that he can control the communist. it is only after he was kidnapped and then release that he decided to join forces with the CPC to counter the japanese invasion, all the while too late as the japanese had overtaking Shenyang and other Chinese military industries.

Even after he decided to repel the Japanese invader, he did it with very little strength while conserving his troop and also still pampering his wife and refuse to sell her belonging for the nation.

The wife is Mdm Soong Mailing


more to come...

 

[Verbose]

Henry the Lion of Saxony...I was just replaying that campaign.....Yeah he is a pretty big traitor...On the fact that he did it 3 times...(they left another out of the campaign.)

But that was dynastic politics! He was looking after the family interest.

Barbarossa was a Hohenstaufen, Henry the Lion was a Welf, the two great rival families of the spot as Holy Roman Emperor.
At least Henry's son Otto became emperor, with English support since his mother was a Plantagenet.

 

[Verbose]

The Arch-Traitor of Brazilian history is actually a portuguese who lived in Brazil, named Joaquim Silvério dos Reis. [Etc...]

I love this kind of stuff! Thank you!

I've always had the feeling that the Real Wild West has always been Brazil, but its sort of below the horizon of mainstrema European historical interest.

 

[HalfBadger]

In Canada, I'd have to say the FLQ, who nearly caused civil war.

I was thinking Lester B. Pierson cuz he retired our old british flag and brought in one of our own.

I was also thinking Pierre Trudeau, didn't he give Western Canada the finger and alienate all provinces from Ontario & Quebec.

Founder of the Bloc Quebecois (Can't remember his name right now), wanting to separate Quebec as it's own nation.

 

[Kafka2]

I'm not British but I personally think Philby, Burgess and McLean were the worst kind of low scum that God ever gave breath to. I hope the Soviets turned on them as soon as the USSR.

A controversial one. After all, had the Soviets not gained nuclear capability would the Cold War have heated up dramatically?

Did their actions cause the downfall of their nation, or did they save it?

 

[nonconformist]

Seconded, I went here to post the same thing. At least there's no ambiguity... tough to betray more than this...

Pierre Laval was decidedly worse thatn Petain.

 

[GEChallenger]

Jane Fonda.

Alcibiades was the biggest, most blatant traitor in history, though.

Brutus was of a more personal nature. I doubt he was trying to save the republic; his actions turned it into an empire. At that point the republic had been dead for decades anyway, and it's always possible (although unproveable) that Caesar really did intend to restore power to the people.

 

[Marla_Singer]

Pierre Laval was decidedly worse thatn Petain.

Pierre Laval wasn't the Hero of Verdun.
(well, if massacring hundreds of thousands of soldiers make of you a hero...)

 

[mrtn]

....
(well, if massacring hundreds of thousands of soldiers make of you a hero...)

Of course it does. You're not a hero unless you've massacred thousands of people. If they're the enemy, that's just a bonus.

 

[Verbose]

Pierre Laval wasn't the Hero of Verdun.
(well, if massacring hundreds of thousands of soldiers make of you a hero...)

Anything Pétain did was worse by virtue of him being Pétain.

 

[DAv2003]

Perhaps one of the biggest traitors in history was the Han prime minister Cao Cao (or T'sao T'sao) Here was a man who's family had benefitted for several generations had risen to one of the highest positions in the country during a time of great chaos and then seizes power for himself and perhaps makes the Three Kingdoms a reality.

 

[Steve Thompson]

Oh come on, Judas was too cool to criticize! He killed Jesus!

I read that when Genghis Khan/Temujin was fighting Jamuka, his followers betrayed him to Genghis, who in turn had the people killed for betraying their leader! It just doesn't pay...

 

[silver 2039]

Mahatma Ghandi. Evil old man...

 

[M37]

Canada:
Louis Riel: Started someting akin to a civll war that lasted about a week.
He and his followers attacked Candain property in Ruperts land. He then fled to the US later returning to the new province of Manitoba. He then re-started his attacks agnist the goverment. The Goverment sent in the army and the Nroth West mounted police. Within a month or so he was catured, placed on trial and eventruly executed.

 

[jonatas]

Canada:
Louis Riel: Started someting akin to a civll war that lasted about a week.
He and his followers attacked Candain property in Ruperts land. He then fled to the US later returning to the new province of Manitoba. He then re-started his attacks agnist the goverment. The Goverment sent in the army and the Nroth West mounted police. Within a month or so he was catured, placed on trial and eventruly executed.

i would say that perhaps some view Riel as a hero, since he was fighting for his people, the Metis...

 

[Tony595]

i would have to say the greatest traitors in American History would be the southern politicians who advocated and got secession ( even if only temporarily)from the Union,there actions started a bloody civil war.

 

[classical_hero]

Russle Crowe

Every New Zealander is in fact a defacto Aussie.

 

[luiz]

I love this kind of stuff! Thank you!

I've always had the feeling that the Real Wild West has always been Brazil, but its sort of below the horizon of mainstrema European historical interest.

Indeed it was. Even today, in the more remote parts of the nation, the situation resembles pretty much a "Wild West" scenario, where the biggest gun makes the Law.

Brazilian history is very interesting. It is full of assassinations, conspiracies, inssurgencies, crazy rulers... you name it. It's indeed a shame that so little people are interested.

 

[MCdread]

So the Derrama was suspended, to the shock of the Inconfidentes. Some days later they were all arrested and sentenced to death.

I was under the impression that only the Tiradentes was executed, the others had other senetences, like being shipped to Africa (which at the time probably wasn't far from a death sentence...).

 

[fantasmo]

Sir John Kerr. He betrayed the confidence of the people inGough Whitlam's government, and dissolved the Whitlam Government on the 11th November 1975, as advised by the leader of the opposition, Malcolm Fraser. That gives 11th November double meaning for Australians, as Remembrance Day and as the anniversary of The Dismissal.